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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Self-awareness is key to the implementation of professional ethics. A discuss on how my personal morals, values, bias and ability to maintain adequate boundaries, confidentiality and determine right from wrong might both positively and negatively impact my professional relationships.

All my life
I was taught that we should treat others how we would want to be treated. My
grandmother who raised me most of my life believed that even without religion
people can be good, moral, virtuous beings by following that simple rule. I
cannot tell you how many times as a child she forced me to suffer through what
I had done to someone else. But as I grew older I realized what she was trying
to teach me, empathy. She wanted me to see, to feel, to ‘know’ what my actions
did to others, both human and animal alike. As an adult I strive very hard to
live by that very simple principle. It is my guiding moral that all others are
weighed against.

When I found ADF many years ago I
feel in love with the Nine Virtues. They seemed to speak as loudly to me as
what I was raised with. I saw that when weighed against the moral of treating
others as I would want to be treated, there was no conflict. I saw that they
actually enhanced what I already believed. So it is that I now strive to first
treat everyone around as I would want to be treated. I strive to hold onto my
integrity and piety moderated with the wisdom I gain over the years. I strive
to have the courage to do what is needed and to persevere when there is nothing
I can do to change events or others viewpoints. And I strive to achieve my
vision of equality so that everyone I come in contact with can have fertile
opportunity to grow. And I temper all of this with the logical difference
between that I see as right and wrong even when it might not be the most
popular action.

Striving to this has been both
positive and negative in my professional life. I have built a trust and image
of being dependable. I have created an image of someone that will always do
what he thinks is right. Much of what I would call right is personal bias; it
is “my” outlook on things, which has been shaped throughout my life. I have
never seen much difference between personal and professional life because I am
the same person in both so my ethic in those situations should be the same. It
is nice to know that people see me this way but I also know that it has hurt me
in many ways as well. I am not willing to take shortcuts that might profit the
majority if I know it will cripple a few or an individual. When I was working
for my former company it was their policy to lie to our vendors giving them
false information and system service tags to get services or parts which were
not covered under warranty. I refused to be part of those activities as they
were in direct conflict with my beliefs and values as a person. I was seen as
not being shrewd enough to succeed by IT management because I do not believe it
is right to short change the “little folk” who are the back bone of the
business so that the owners can benefit. Because of that I was never hired on
as a full time employee. My contract was dragged out for two years until I just
became tired of dealing with their unethical behaviors. And despite this
treatment I continued to work giving 100% until I landed my current job.

Much of my professional career
has been in IT. The major of the IT work I have been involved with has centered
on medical software and hardware. As a data administrator I was held to the
highest levels of confidential requirements by federal laws. I had complete and
total access to medical records of every single patient which was in our
clients’ databases. So I have a vast understanding of confidentiality on a
professional level for just that reason alone. How has it been a negative? I
cannot say that it ever has been one in the work place. However as the leader
of a former ADF Grove that professional confidentiality was challenged several
times about events that surrounded the Regional Druid at the time. That became
a negative when had a real need to talk with someone outside the situation but
knew to do so would be breaching the individuals involved confidentiality.

When it comes to professional
boundaries I still struggle with finding a good middle ground. Though I would
like very much to make friends with those I work with, I have learned over the
years it is best to keep them separate from my personal life. Several times
events in my personal found their way into the view of my professional life
because of those who crossed over into both areas. Because of that, even though
I apply the same principles to both personal and professional, I keep them as
separate as possible. It can be a struggle at times because I spend so much
time at work. This also reflects back to the fact I also will not break my
personal values to further my professional career. That to me is a professional
boundary and it will not be crossed no matter the cost.

About Me

I am an ordained Neo-Pagan Druid Priest that follows the path of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF). I am just a Druid gay man making my way through life, trying to find where my path will lead me and learning as much as I can along the way. As a published writer, I work to help educate people on the Druid path, Paganism in general, and magical practices.